I got a heck of a deal on an M1 Air but it was tricky

[mclld]

I see an m1 Air on Facebook Marketplace two days ago for 500, at first I was like this has to be bs but I decided just to message anyway. They reply right away and say they do have it, I ask if they are willing to meet at a police station and they said sure thing. So that is a good sign but I live an hour from Memphis but I decided it was worth the trip on the chance this is indeed real.

I drive over and they are there, we are in there parking lot. The MacBook had been reset and was on the screen where you choose username and password for a new account. I enter my name and a generic password of 1234. It would not go pass this screen so we reset it and then it shows the lock screen with my name and I enter the password and it wouldn't work. It shook like the wrong password was entered.

The guy says he will just try and reinstall but it would take hours so I go home and tell him to let me know when done. He ended up having to take it to the Apple Store and they fixed it and did a software repair level 1 whatever that is but warranty covered it. I drove over at 9pm tonight and meet at the police station and it was good to go. I am typing this on the Air and I was assuming it was the 256 gig but it has there 512 storage!


Is there any certain cable I need to use to hook this to a monitor? I have an LG UHD 32" I would like to use sometime with it and I have a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I do need a new charging block, I sit it on top of his vehicle and forgot it and it fell off and was ran over. I have the cable but I need a wall adapter, are their good third party options?

 

[nieks]

Weird story, but hey if the device is legit, enjoy it!

I have the cable but I need a wall adapter, are their good third party options?

If it comes to power adapters for M1 computers, I'm a bit paranoid. I've heard stories about fried motherboards, so I would only advice the official apple one. Don't buy third party wall chargers.

Is there any certain cable I need to use to hook this to a monitor?

Your Air has a Thunderbolt out port, so depending on the LG ports, get something that fits.
Preferably use the Apple adapter and an HDMI cable that supports 4K.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I see an m1 Air on Facebook Marketplace two days ago for 500, at first I was like this has to be bs but I decided just to message anyway. They reply right away and say they do have it, I ask if they are willing to meet at a police station and they said sure thing. So that is a good sign but I live an hour from Memphis but I decided it was worth the trip on the chance this is indeed real.

I drive over and they are there, we are in there parking lot. The MacBook had been reset and was on the screen where you choose username and password for a new account. I enter my name and a generic password of 1234. It would not go pass this screen so we reset it and then it shows the lock screen with my name and I enter the password and it wouldn't work. It shook like the wrong password was entered.

The guy says he will just try and reinstall but it would take hours so I go home and tell him to let me know when done. He ended up having to take it to the Apple Store and they fixed it and did a software repair level 1 whatever that is but warranty covered it. I drove over at 9pm tonight and meet at the police station and it was good to go. I am typing this on the Air and I was assuming it was the 256 gig but it has there 512 storage!


Is there any certain cable I need to use to hook this to a monitor? I have an LG UHD 32" I would like to use sometime with it and I have a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I do need a new charging block, I sit it on top of his vehicle and forgot it and it fell off and was ran over. I have the cable but I need a wall adapter, are their good third party options?

Anker make a range of Gallium Nitride wall chargers that are smaller than the Apple equivalents, some with two or more ports which can be useful. This one is 30W same as the Apple one.
https://www.anker.com/deals/powerport_atom

Did the seller say why it was so cheap, or have the original purchase receipt?

 

[mclld]

It was a couple and they had this and the new 12.9 pro and said they bought both and ended up just using the ipad all the time

 

[Apple_Robert]

It was a couple and they had this and the new 12.9 pro and said they bought both and ended up just using the ipad all the time

Does the machine have AC+ ?

I would contact the seller and ask for the original sales receipt.

 

[Budgiemac]

i saved 5 dollars.

 

[matrix07]

It was a couple and they had this and the new 12.9 pro and said they bought both and ended up just using the ipad all the time

Yeah but why selling it so cheap???

 

[mclld]

I am not sure, in my experience with Apple products bin the past I never had to have a receipt for warranty purpose

 

[Del Martes]

Anker make a range of Gallium Nitride wall chargers that are smaller than the Apple equivalents, some with two or more ports which can be useful. This one is 30W same as the Apple one.
https://www.anker.com/deals/powerport_atom

Did the seller say why it was so cheap, or have the original purchase receipt?

I have two of those 30 W Anker Gallium chargers that you linked. They are of iffy quality. I use them to charge my Rav power bricks. One works kind of OK. The other is noticeably sub-par. It takes a LONG time for them to fully charge the two Rav power bricks, despite the fact that Rav power bricks have stated to use 30 W chargers to speed up the charging process. When I switch to use the 30 W charger for my M1 MacBook Air, the charging speed is immediately faster!

Go figure!

The 30 W charger that comes with the M1 Air is def of better quality than the Anker 30 W ones!

 

[Frixos]

I am not sure, in my experience with Apple products bin the past I never had to have a receipt for warranty purpose

The reason for asking for a receipt would not in the first case be regarding warranty, but to see whether the computer was stolen or not.

 

[cmaier]

the OP omitted the part where after picking up the mac he woke up in a bathtub full of ice and his kidney was missing.

 

[swrdl]

I've been watching craigslist for used M1 MBAs for the last month or so.

A few days ago, an ad popped up and it looked a bit sketchy, priced a few $hundred less than other ads. But I thought I'd talk to the person because you never know. Turns out he had the original Apple receipt and the box and he just wanted to sell the laptop quickly and with no hassle.

So I went to his house, checked the laptop out thoroughly, and bought a gold M1 MBA with 10 battery cycles, less than 1TB written to the SSD in its lifetime, no signs of wear in any way.

I'm very happy. It's obviously a great idea to be very cautious/skeptical about ads that seem too good to be true, and it's also a great idea to take a chance once in a while.

 

[Surfman]

Probs stolen

 

[cmaier]

I've been watching craigslist for used M1 MBAs for the last month or so.

A few days ago, an ad popped up and it looked a bit sketchy, priced a few $hundred less than other ads. But I thought I'd talk to the person because you never know. Turns out he had the original Apple receipt and the box and he just wanted to sell the laptop quickly and with no hassle.

So I went to his house, checked the laptop out thoroughly, and bought a gold M1 MBA with 10 battery cycles, less than 1TB written to the SSD in its lifetime, no signs of wear in any way.

I'm very happy. It's obviously a great idea to be very cautious/skeptical about ads that seem too good to be true, and it's also a great idea to take a chance once in a while.

Okay, but then did you make sure *you* still have both your kidneys when you got home?

 

[swrdl]

Okay, but then did you make sure *you* still have both your kidneys when you got home?

I can confirm I still have all three kidneys.

 

[Mike Boreham]

I have two of those 30 W Anker Gallium chargers that you linked. They are of iffy quality. I use them to charge my Rav power bricks. One works kind of OK. The other is noticeably sub-par. It takes a LONG time for them to fully charge the two Rav power bricks, despite the fact that Rav power bricks have stated to use 30 W chargers to speed up the charging process. When I switch to use the 30 W charger for my M1 MacBook Air, the charging speed is immediately faster!

Go figure!

The 30 W charger that comes with the M1 Air is def of better quality than the Anker 30 W ones!

Wow, that is bad luck! Anker products have a pretty good reputation and the customer support is good. What did their Customer Support say about yours? The only dud item I have received from them was quickly replaced.

I have three Anker Gallium chargers (different models, one is the 30W) which I use a lot with Ravpower and Anker USB-C PD batteries and other devices. Because I like testing stuff I use a USB-C power meter to see what is actually going on, and my three have been fine.